Having chosen which of the unique skills he wanted, Marcus put the other back in the magic bag and handed it back to Gwyneira.
"So, which one did you choose." Gwyneira asked as she took the bag containing the other two back.
"I decided to go with Sound Mind. It may have the least powerful effect, but it is the most stable, and a boost to my intelligence score is always welcome."
Nodding her head, Gwyneira, had expected Marcus' choice from the beginning, since the other unique skills were quite dangerous.
Of course, she had been hoping he would take Decaying Aura, since it was unlikely they would ever fine another suitable user, but she had left the choice up to Marcus.
And while the danger that came along with Decaying Aura was a factor in Marcus' choice, the main reason he chose Sound Mind was to prevent himself from ever being mind controlled.
He had seen just how scary mind effecting abilities could be when Mrazivy had been turned into a puppet by Wyatt during the tournament.
These types of abilities were now some of Marcus' only weaknesses and having an immunity to them would make him that much stronger.
'Would you like to learn the unique skill, Sound Mind.'
'Yes.'
Activating the golden skill orb in his hand, Marcus confirmed that he wanted to learn the skill, and a moment later, he felt a tingling in his head, before a sharp pain.
"Ugh."
Bending over and hold his head, it felt like someone was using a jackhammer inside his mind.
"Wait. There is no need to worry, he is just getting used to the changes the unique skill is causing to his mind." Gwyneira said, as Mrazivy started to rush to Marcus' side.
After that, Marcus gritted his teeth and dealt with the pain for around thirty minutes as the unique skill strengthened his mind.
In fact, this was actually quite similar to what happened to Lilia when she first learned Peerless Physique, though not quite as intense.
"Ahhh"
As soon as the pain had subsided Marcus let out a reflexive sigh of relief.
'Damn that hurt even more than cutting of my own arm.'
Marcus then closed his eyes and focused on his mind, and he certainly was able to sense a fundamental change.
He was able to think a bit clearer and faster, and he just felt more secure in general.
"How are you doing?" Mrazivy asked as she saw Marcus no longer writhing in pain.
"I am doing fine now. It just hurt for a bit, nothing I cannot handle."
Now that Marcus had adapted to his new unique skill, and was doing perfectly fine, Gwyneira, led them back out of the vault and back towards the royal family's quarters.
"Oh, before I forget here you go Mrazivy." Gwyneira said, handing over the unique skill orb containing Winter's Grace.
"Go ahead and learn it. I can already tell you that you will be very happy with the effects." Gwyneira said, right before disappearing in a puff of mist.
With the two of them being alone once again, Marcus and Mrazivy headed back to her room, and let Mrazivy sit down before learning Winter's Grace, just in case it came with some pain just like Sound Mind.
"Well here goes nothing." Mrazivy said as she used the unique skill orb.
Immediately as she activated it and learned the skill sealed within, the temperature in the room dropped, and frost began to form around Mrazivy.
She then began to hold her stomach obviously in distress and closed her eyes to bear the pain.
It seemed that just like Sound Mind, Winter's Grace fundamentally changed its user, and forced them to endure a painful metamorphosis.
Luckily, after just five minutes Mrazivy opened her eyes, however, instead of their normal dark blue color, they were now a light blue almost like ice, and were glowing.
Mrazivy then let out a breath, and Marcus saw that it was cold enough to freeze the water in the air.
"How do you feel?" Marcus asked wanting to make sure Mrazivy was all right.
In response she nodded her head and looked at Marcus with a big smile.
"Thank you for letting me have this unique skill. It really is perfect for me."
Mrazivy then cast the ice bullet spell without chanting, surprising Marcus.
"Its outstanding. I no longer have to chant to cast any of my ice magic spells." Mrazivy said, ecstatic to have gained this power.
However, she was a bit too enamored by this new ability and cast the tier two ice magic spell, ice floor, and coated her entire suite in ice.
"Um Mrazivy, I think that you may have gone a bit overboard." Marcus said as he looked around the room that had been turned into a winter wonderland.
Her face red from embarrassment, Mrazivy said, "Sorry, I got carried away."
After that, though, what happened next stunned Marcus, as Mrazivy seemed to absorb the ice, and cold around her until the room was back to normal.
"That was pretty impressive." Marcus said surprised to see another application of Mrazivy's unique skill.
"Yeah, it is quite useful, and that is not even all of the powers this skill has."
Mrazivy then explained what powers she had obtained from the Unique skill Winter's Grace, and it nearly had Marcus staring at her in disbelief.
The skill was incredibly powerful, with multiple different abilities within it.
And while none of these abilities were quite as strong as a focused unique skill by themselves, when combined all together they gave Mrazivy a power nearly as strong as a supreme skill.
"Wow, that is quite the power boost. Not only did it give you all of those cold based powers, but it also raised each of your stats by eight percent." Marcus said, still wrapping his head around everything Mrazivy had just told him.
"So did you want to help me test it out." Mrazivy said her excitement plain to see.
Nodding his head, Marcus agreed to Mrazivy's request and the two of them head towards the castle's training grounds.
However, when they arrived, Marcus told Mrazivy to warm up without him as he need to take care of something really quickly.
'Status.'
Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist
Age: 31/20
Race: Unbound Ghost, Great Spirit of Light and Darkness
Titles: Baronetess, Great Spirit, Prince
Level: 44
HP: 22560/22560
MP: 16640/16640
STR: 1095 (+197)
AGL: 1032 (+237)
VIT: 889 (+160)
INT: 1410 (+254)
SPR: 1023 (+184)
Stat Points: 1052
Skill Points: 103
Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential
Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status, Deny Destruction, Sound Mind
Skills: Large Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 4, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 6, Magic Circulation Lvl 6, Iron Magic Lvl 6, Disassembly Lvl 5, Stealth Lvl 5, Lightning Magic Lvl 5, Creature Appraisal Lvl 5, Fire Magic Lvl 5, Danger Sense Lvl 5, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 6, Healing Magic Lvl 4, Mana Regeneration Lvl 5, Speed Burst Lvl 5, Mana Body Lvl 5, Powerful Slash Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 6, Heighten Spells Lvl 5, Forge Lvl 6, Trap Sensing Lvl 3, Dark Magic Lvl 5, Light Magic Lvl 5, Driving Lvl 4, Cooking Lvl 4, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 5, Life Sense Lvl 3, Enhanced Vision Lvl 4, Dancing Lvl 3, Mana Barrier Lvl 5, Perforation Strike Lvl 4, Grand Swing Lvl 3, Magic Resistance Lvl 6 (Maxed), Telepathy Lvl 6 (Maxed), Death Dance Lvl 6 (Maxed)
Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness
Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying, Spirit Portal, Summon Spirits, Ruler of Light, Ruler of Darkness, Confer Blessing
Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows, Spirit Healing
Looking over his stats, Marcus went wide eyed when he saw his intelligence stat.
After obtaining the Sound Mind Unique skill, it had skyrocketed and was far and away above all of his other stats.
However, when he looked at his currently crippled spirit stat, Marcus felt a hollow sense in his chest, as his former highest stat was now below even his agility and strength stats.
Yet when he saw the number of stat points he had gotten from leveling up, he felt a fire burning within him, and did not hesitate to dump seven hundred of them straight into his spirit stat to bring it back up to its former glory.
He then gave a hundred points to all of his physical stats, and the remaining fifty-two went into intelligence.
'Ah now that is better.' He thought seeing his spirit stat once again reign supreme.
And with his newfound stats increase, Marcus felt even greater power inside him now and was ready to get in a good spar with Mrazivy.. So, that both of them could get used to their new powers.
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